Finding Maximums and Minimums

Read this section to learn about maximums, minimums, and extreme values for functions. Work through practice problems 1-5.

Practice Answers

Practice 1: The enrollments were relative maximums in '82, '87, and '90.
The global maximum was in '87. The enrollments were relative minimums in '80, '83, and '89 . The global minimum occurred in '80.


Practice 2: f(x)=x^{2}+4 x-5 is a polynomial so f is differentiable for all x, and f^{\prime}(x)=2 x+4. f^{\prime}(x)=0 when x=-2 so the only candidate for a local extreme is x=-2. Since the graph of f is a parabola opening up, the point (-2, f(-2))=(-2,-9) is a local minimum.

g(x)=2 x^{3}-12 x^{2}+7 is a polynomial so g is differentiable for all x, and g^{\prime}(x)=6 x^{2}-24 x=6 x(x-4). g^{\prime}(x)=0 when x=0,4 so the only candidates for a local extreme are x=0 and x=4. The graph of g (Fig. 22) shows that g has a local maximum at (0,7) and a local minimum at (4,-57).

Fig. 22

Practice 3:

\begin{array}{l|l|l|l}x & f(x) & f^{\prime}(x) & \max / \mathrm{min} \\\hline 1 & 5 & 0 & \text { local max } \\2 & & & \\3 & 1 & 0 & \text { local min } \\4 & 3 & 0 & \text { neither } \\5 & & & \\6 & 7 & 0 & \text { local max }\end{array}

see Fig. 23


Fig. 23


Practice 4: (1, \mathrm{f}(1)) is a local minimum. \mathrm{x}=1 is an endpoint.

(2, f(2)) is a local maximum. f^{\prime}(2)=0

(3, f(3)) is a local minimum. f is not differentiable at x=3.

(4, f(4)) is a local maximum. x=4 is an endpoint.


Practice 5: This is the same function that was used in Example 4, but in this Practice problem the interval is [0,5] instead of [0,10] in the Example. See the Example for the calculations.

Critical points: endpoints \mathrm{x}=0 and \mathrm{x}=\mathbf{5}.

\mathrm{f} is differentiable for all 0 < \mathrm{x} < 5: none.

\mathrm{f}^{\prime}(\mathrm{x})=0: none in [0,5].

f(0) \approx 4.67 is the maximum of \mathrm{f} on [0,5]. \mathrm{f}(5) \approx 4.14 is the minimum of \mathrm{f} on [0,5]